THE BLOG

It’s the festival of one of my favourite hobbies …. Sleeping!

Yes, there’s actually a festival for it – I don’t think it’s a festival such as Glastonbury – I don’t think there’d be much going on to be honest, apart from the sounds of slumber. Or as in the case in my house, the roar of snores!

It’s more a joy of doing something pleasurable! I have to admit, I absolutely love having one of the dogs on the bed – especially when they’re sleeping the other side of the bed and not taking up my space J. Hubby isn’t too keen – the dogs seem to like to rest their weary heads on his legs – as I tell him – it’s not my problem – it’s not bothering me!!

There are actually real benefits to sleeping with your dog/s ……..

They keep you warm

Especially in the winter. Do your dogs cuddle up? Daisy loves it when hubby’s away – she starts at my feet and I often wake up to her breathing into the back of my neck as she rests her head on Martin’s pillow and snuggles up!

They keep you safe. Or make you feel safe. Daisy is going deaf now so can’t hear the small sounds, but I know that Dibbs does. He soon lets me know if the door opens up downstairs when I’m not expecting it. It’s always Martin coming home (thankfully), but I know if anybody tries to get in, they’ll be met by at least one German Shepherd!

They reduce stress.

Dogs are well known to reduce stress levels by just fussing them, so it makes sense that fussing a dog as you fall asleep will help you relax. I’ve found from experience that if I can’t sleep, just resting a hand on one of the dogs can help me drift off into the land of nod.

As for dogs going off into the land of dreams – have you wondered what they might be dreaming about? We can often relate their involuntary dream movements to our activities during the day – running, playing or even just wagging their tail. Dibbs often reacts to music playing on the telly – if it’s exciting, he runs faster. As the music fades, so do his movements!

Let me ask you one question though – how many hours do you spend looking and smiling at your dog sleeping? It’s a past-time in itself. Let me ask you another question – how many photos do you have of them asleep? Luckily we have quite a few of the lovely Tillie who left us last year. She was a definite “blopper” in that her tongue would find itself halfway out of her mouth during her slumbers.

So, how am I going to celebrate the Festival of Sleep? I’m going to put my PJs on, grab a glass of Prosecco (well, it is Friday!), relax on the sofa – move to my bed and join in the celebrations of this fabulous festival!